Chanced Meeting
by Youkai Ryuu
Summary: What if on that day Sakura never met Ino, instead she met Naruto. A friendship that never was, is. But how would this effect anybody else? NaruSaku slight ItaSaku
1. Daijoubu desu ka

**Chanced Meeting**

**By**: Youkai Ryuu

**Summary**: NaruSaku; what if on that day Sakura never met Ino, instead she met Naruto. A friendship that never was is. How can this effect everyone else?

**Disclaimer**: Don't own, never will.

**Ch 1**: Daijoubu desu ka

_ The sun hung high in the afternoon sky. It was summer and the temperature was the coolest in the week. The children of the academy were off and hung around the playground. But hiding behind the jungle gym was a pink haired six year old girl crying. She was hiding from the other students; her eyes were covered by her pink bangs while tears streamed down her small delicate face. She was trying to hush her sobs, but miserably failing. After few more minutes her crying still continued, but the other children decided to leave._

_ The girl briefly looked up, her eyes still clouded with unshed tears. The voices of her classmates were fading and secretly she wished that they hadn't heard her crying or she would be picked on more the next day. Silence hung around the new empty playground, sometimes broken by her sobs._

_ Finally when the sun reached its peek a boy entered the playground. His messy blonde hair looked unkempt as always and his eyes were as blue as the sky above. His shirt was a bit dirty, but not as much as his face. On his cheeks were whisker marks and a small bleeding scratch._

_ He walked further into the playground heading for the swings. It was then he spotted pink among the green grass. His step faltered, in his mind he was debating whether to continue or to leave. But after hearing the person sobbing he made up his mind, hesitantly he continued._

_ He walked up to the still crying girl and squatted down till they were eye level._

"_Ano sa… Daijoubu desu ka?" – Are you alright?- The boy asked. The girl hiccupped and tensed up. She slowly raised her head making sure that the boy could only see her eyes. But she didn't answer._

"_Daijoubue desu ka? What are you crying for?" he asked again, his blue eyes wide with concern and curiosity._

_ She looked at him for a while more, trying tot think of something to say. She had only seen him once or twice around school and all those times he was alone. He seemed nice enough and she thought that he would've already knew of her defect._

"_My forehead." She mumbled._

"_Huh?"_

"_My forehead." She said louder, and tears began to fall from her eyes._

"_Sorry, I'm sorry! Please stop crying!" The boy said in a panic. He looked around the park for other people. If they saw him right there and then they would've thought that he made her cry. He didn't need the adults to yell at him, along with their ice cold glares._

_ The girl quieted after a moment watching the little boy panic. She giggled as she watched him do foolish things to get her to stop. _

_ He grinned. "You're cute when you laugh." The girl blushed. "And whatcha mean your forehead? I can't see it. Your hair is covering it." He stretched his hand trying to brush the bangs away. She immediately pulled back her small arm flung to shield her face. "What? I'm sorry!" the boy said his eyes filled with confusion and in a second he took her hand that blocked her face, and pulled her back in a sitting position. "Daijoubu?"_

_ The little girl's lip quivered before speaking. "Everyone makes fun of my forehead." The boy cocked an eyebrow still confused. "Don't you see how big it is?" she finally said angrily pushing her bangs up._

"_But I don't see anything. But why would you cry for that?"_

"_Because the other kids pick on me." The little boy didn't respond, replacing the confusing expression with surprise. Why would anyone want to pick on her? They were usually picking on him. But the little girl mistook the silence, thinking that he was going to start making fun of her too and she began to cry._

"_I'm sorry! But why would they? They pick on me." He said trying to quiet her again._

_ The girl stopped. Just this mourning she saw one of the boys in her class trip him for no reason. She didn't tell the teacher incase they went after her next._

"_Daijoubu?" The boy asked again, he was a bit nervous now. It seemed every time there's a silence she'll start to cry._

"_Hai," the girl said smiling shyly up at him. It made him blush._

"_I'm Uzumaki, Naruto. What's your name." he finally introduced. He gave her a grin like nothing happened._

"_Haruno…" The little girl trailed off._

"_Something wrong?" He asked cocking an eyebrow at her._

"_Mommy doesn't like it when I say Haruno." She said uncertainly._

"_I don't have a mommy so I don't know. What's your name?"_

"_Sakura?" she spoke, still uncertain._

_ After a moment Naruto spoke again. "Wanna play with me?"_

"_Okay." Sakura agreed. She qiped the remaining tears from her eyes and when she finished she saw Naruto offering his hand. Smiling she took it._

"_C'mon!" Naruto ran dragging Sakura to the swings. Sakura sat down and Naruto began to push her with all his strength. She started to laugh as the wind blew on her face making her forget her troubles. Naruto stopped and hurriedly sat in the swing next to her and began propelling himself. They played till sunset, raiding the still empty playground. After climbing the monkey bars Sakura looked up at the sky._

"_I have to go!" She said abruptly from their laughter._

"_Huh?" Naruto broke off. He blinked wide eyed at his playmate._

"_My mommy's gonna be mad."_

"_Oh." Naruto spoke softly. He looked down dejected as Sakura began to leave._

_ She turned around, smiling she asked "Wanna play again tomarrow?"_

"_Yea! Same time?" Naruto grinned at her._

"_Sure. Ja ne tomadachi!" –See you, friend- Sakura called waving. Turning around she smiled not looking back._

_ Both knew that they had made a true friend that day. And before sleeping they both silently thanked the forces for their good luck._

"Sakura!" A voice shouted in her ear.

"Huh?" the pink haired twelve year old girl eyes shot opened. She was still a little bit dazed.

"Daijoubu ka?" Naruto asked sitting in the swing next to hers.

She was silent before answering "Hai."

"Itachi-nii-san said to meet him at the main house today." Naruto said looking at his friend.

Sakura pushed the ground with her feet and began to swing slightly. "I know, but later." Naruto began to swing. "Remember what today is?"

"The first day we've met. How long has it been?"

"Six years."

"Oh…" Naruto dug into his kunai pouch, bringing out a crudely wrapped gift.

Sakura did the same. They both stopped swinging by then, staring at each other and the gifts in their hands they laughed. They quickly exchanged gifts and stuffed it into their kunai pouches.

"Do we have any missions today?" Naruto asked turning his attention to the sky.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him.

"What, do I have something on my face?" Naruto began wiping his cheeks with the backside of his hand.

"Don't you remember we've been practically banned from missions till we actually take the genin exams." Sakura said exasperate.

"WHA! But how am I gonna get any good money? My rent's due next week!"

"Hey we'll still get something. We'll just be doing D and C missions…" Sakura trailed off. But those missions usually pay a lot less than the missions they normally do.

'What _am_ I gonna do for money? Haruno-san won't give me an advance on my pay…' Sakura thought looking at the ground.

"After a while, when we get a break from genin duties, wanna ask Hokage-jiji for something higher?" She asked looking at her friend. Naruto nodded, they really did need the money.

"Wanna stay at Itachi-nii-san's tonight?" Naruto asked. "I'm gonna."

"No, Haruno-san wants me to clean the living room and kitchen, she's having some of her friends over."

"How bout dinner?"

"Need to leave earlier. But knowing Uchiha-san she'll make me a bento."

"Ano sa…." Naruto finally looked at Sakura. He would've continued, but stopped when he saw her green eyes downcast.

A moment of silence passed by, until Sakura finally noticed. Looking up she blinked at Naruto's passive face. "Somethin' wrong?"

Naruto trying to cover up grinned widely "Hell no! Let's get goin'!" He shouted pumping his fist and jumping off the swing. Sakura smiled a bit and followed him off to the section of the village for the Uchiha clan.

**End of Ch: 1**

My first Naruto fic. Please be nice and review. I hope you like this chapter and thanks for reading! If you have time, please read my Inu-yasha fic: A Cursed Kagome and review. Thanks.


	2. How Everything Is

**To ****Kiyana Va Sala** : Currently I'm taking Japanese as my language class. O'Genki desu ka is used when you haven't seen a person for a while. Like for a few days. And it translates to : "How are you?" Also o' is used to symbolize respect, so if you're meeting an unfamiliar person it's polite to say o'genki. While Daijoubu is translated as alright, in health sense. And Daijoubu desu ka translates to: "Are you alright?" Or " Are you feeling ok?" But I'm not sure is the o in daijoubu is stressed, but it's the usual way I spell it. And I really appreciate your review and commenting on my Japanese.

**To ****ErikKoekkoek**: I know I used Daijoubu desu ka a lot, but I think you got what the redundant usage is for. I'm still trying to work out Naruto's and Sakura'a abilities, but I can't see why they can't be as powerful as a jounin. Itachi and Kakashi, even Neji are above Genin levels before they were even 12. And there is an explanation for why they are taking on higher ranked missions before becoming a Genin. But I will take your advice and try to not make the two insanely strong.

**To the others**: Thank you so much! I'm really happy I got that much reviews and I hope this fic would be a success. I'll try to tone down the Japanese usage for someone's request. Seems a lot of people are commenting on some stuff, remember all would be revealed in time.

**Note:** I'm basing a lot of the Uchiha clan information, and police force out of what I can find from the manga. I'll try to keep it as close to the manga as possible. Also if you guys are interested in the current status of my fics, check out my bio. I update it regularly to include how much of the next chapter is done. Along with chapter title and a summary.

**Disclaimer**: You know….

**Last Chapter**: Sakura smiled a bit and followed him off to the section of the village for the Uchiha clan.

**Ch 2**: How everything is

They quickly made their way to the Uchiha compound, waving occasionally to members of the Uchiha clan. They entered through the wooden gates and hanging from the ceiling of the gate were black fabrics with the Uchiha's fan. Everyone inside was busy doing whatever he or she was. But the most notable were the ninja police force of Konoha. Even though they wore the usual Jounin vest they had on their upper shirt sleeves the Police Force symbol, consisting of a four-pointed black star and the Uchiha fan in the middle. Few of the police waved at them and greeted them with nods. Sakura did the same not feeling boisterous at the moment.

But Naruto was, he shouted "Konnichiwa!" to everyone, even the people who didn't wave. But it seemed the compound was used to it seeing that all who passed just smiled slightly.

After walking further down the street and approaching Itachi's home, they spotted a white eyed Anbu talking with an Uchiha, there also was another teen with violet eyes. And at that moment the trio spotted them too, All three of them grinned but the Hyuuga waved them over.

"Konnichiwa, Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan." The Hyuuga greeted.

"Yo!" Naruto shouted grinning like an idiot.

Sakura ignored the bouncing blonde. "Tai-kun it's been a while. How have you guys been?" She looked at the trio.

"Nothing really, but Kyou's thinking of joining the police force though." Tai inclined his head towards his violet eyed friend.

"Really?" Naruto questioned loudly, now jumping up and down excitedly.

"Yea, but just thinking." Kyou replied.

"Sakura-chan, whatcha feed Naruto?" The Uchiha finally spoke. He looked at Naruto, who was still bouncing, amusedly. The passer bys were beginning to stare.

"Only three specially prepared bowls of ramen by me, Setsuna-kun." Sakura smiled evilly at the trio. The three sweat dropped as they saw Naruto bouncing higher and shouting how great Sakura's ramen was.

"If you keep drugging him like this he'll be wasted in a day." Sestuna commented as Naruto now pumping his fists while bouncing.

"Yea, Saku-chan you're drugging him." Tai jokingly said. Kyou just grinned.

"Why I'm insulted," Sakura mockingly dramatic. She moved her hand to cover her heart. "Why would I ever want to drug my best friend in the world?"

"We're not your best friends?" Kyou inquired pouting.

"You're dispensable." Sakura spoke airily waving her hand like shooing a fly.

"Glad to know we're that valuable to you." Sestuna said sarcastically.

"Ano sa ano sa, You're my best friends too!" Naruto yelled waving his arms in the air.

"Saku-chan, seriously what have you been feeding him?" Tai asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Ramen, with extra msg." Sakura replied smiling.

Kyou raised his eyebrows. "MSG's suppose to make you sleepy."

"Yea, I know. But it seems it has a reverse affect on him though." Sakura jabbed her thumb and blonde. Naruto had stopped bouncing, but his head was inclined to his side, an expression that clearly said 'huh?' written all over.

The others sighed mushroom clouds. But continued to ignore the hyper blonde.

"What are you doin here? I thought Hokage-sama banned you from high ranked missions." Sestuna asked the pink haired kunoichi.

"Technically yea. But Itachi-nii-san wanted us to meet him at his house."

"What for?" Tai asked. His white eyes glancing at Naruto.

"Don't know. But I'm hopping it's something. It's still three days before the genin exams, so we're stuck with nothing. Hokage-jiji is cutting off all our missions, even the ones we were planned for." Sakura said shrugging.

"Yea, I heard that they're assigning Hunter-nins and some Chuunins to those." Sestuna commented.

"It sucks. I was really looking forward to that infiltration mission." Sakura sighed.

"Me too." Naruto finally said. It seemed that his extra energy finally died down to an extent that he could actually say sensible things.

"Well you two should be happy that Hokage-sama even allows you to go on missions and you're still not technically shinobi yet." Tai said.

"I know, I know. But he's still stingy for banning us." Naruto scrunched up his face in annoyance.

"Hey, and you guys didn't have to go to the academy either." Setsuna interjected.

"Doesn't mean we haven't been trained." Sakura retorted.

"We know. But if you want I can try and get you guys a C ranked mission in the mean time." Kyou offered.

"That'll be great Kyou! Thanks!" Naruto replied happily grinning.

"No problem. Hey," Kyou turned to look at Setsuna and Tai. "We better head to the tower now." They nodded in agreement. Kyou turned to look at the soon to be genins. "I'll find you if I get anything. See ya." And with that the three jumped and disappeared.

"C'mon we need to go." Naruto said tugging at Sakura's wrist. She blinked then nodded and the two began to resume their walk towards Itachi's home.

They passed by more buildings and shops all sporting the Uchiha fan.

'Don't these people ever get sick of that fan? I mean it's good to show some clan pride, but this is ridicules.' Sakura thought exasperatedly glancing from side to side and seeing the Uchiha fans. She was rudely awakened from her thoughts by a sharp tug on her wrist. Out of reflex Sakura jerked her arm out of the hold and elbowed the person. Naruto unfortunately wasn't paying attention to Sakura when he turned around, so he got elbowed on the back near his right shoulder.

"What was that for?" Naruto shouted jumping away from his attacker.

"That's what you get for butting in! Never do that to a girl!" Sakura retorted. Both glared at each other, daring the other to make the first move.

"Quit it," A voice came beside from beside them. They had already reached Itachi's home and the speaker was none other than Itachi.

"Konnichiwa," chorused the two in perfect unison, all matters forgotten. Itachi only nodded and moved aside so the two could pass through.

They entered the house and took off their blue sandals before stepping onto the raised platform. This was their usual routine. Whenever they came, Naruto would do something perfectly ordinary, but it would earn him a bruise from Sakura. When Itachi or his mother would answer the door, they would stop the glaring contest. Then come in, take off their sandals, and finally do to the study room.

The study room was somewhat empty. The only things occupying the room were lined against the walls. Shoji screens leading to the yard lined made up one of the walls. Currently one of the screens were pulled back, showing a small patch of the garden. A steady stream of water filled a shortened bamboo shoot, forcing it to tilt and dispensing the water back into the pond.

Sakura and Naruto walked into the room, their steps creeping on the tatami mats. They took a seat on their usual spots and waited for Itachi to sit too. He did after a few seconds and a moment of silence passed over them.

"So Itachi-nii-san, why did you call us here?" Sakura asked deciding to finally break the silence.

It took a few more moments before Itachi answered. "As you already know Hokage-sama has reassigned all of your missions to other shinobi."

"Why do you want to remind us of that? We already know." Naruto interjected pouting and slumping his shoulders.

"I and few other Anbu have been reassigned the infiltration mission." Itachi stated, his face still passive.

"Anbu? From the mission description it shouldn't be that hard. When we got it, it was only B ranked." Sakura said her brows furrowed in confusion.

"The client changed the details a day after the mission was reassigned. He also changed the targets."

"But, why are you telling us this? It's not our mission anymore." Sakura asked, looking at the Anbu in suspicion.

"Yea, you usually get straight to the point." Naruto piped up, staring wide-eyed at Itachi.

"I'll be gone for probably a week, so I'll miss your graduation."

"Hey, we know it's something more than that. Tell us!" Naruto's voice began to rise.

The atmosphere of the room seemed to shift. Mounting impatience was obvious in Naruto. Sakura was too; it wasn't like Itachi to beat around the bush. He'll always get straight to the point, and always blunt. The only times he spared anyone of his brutal honesty was when the situation demands it and that was usually something extremely dangerous. And she knew that him missing their graduation didn't even have to do with anything at all.

"With this mission, there is no guarantee that both of you won't become targets." Itachi's eyes seemed to harden. His expression didn't change however.

A feeling of dread came over the two. They knew what Itachi was implying with out saying.

"They infiltrated Konoha already haven't they?" Sakura whispered, her eyes giving away her horror.

"But why would that want us? The only other missions we had in that area was just an escort and then retrieval." Naruto whispered harshly. It seemed that both were trying to keep their voices as low as possible. Naruto's eyes darted to open shoji screen.

"And they were low classed missions too, both C ranked." Sakura continued, trying to suppress her nervousness. The last thing she wanted to do was give the enemy's a chance to take her out.

"That is classified for now. But Hokage-sama has assigned you a good sensei for your Genin team. He was already informed of your situation. The police force is already working to track down the infiltrators. Untill then don't train in secluded areas and make sure you don't give any chances for them to make the first move." Itachi continued to watch them. It was obvious to Itachi of their growing anxiety.

"What rank do you think?" Sakura asked glancing at Naruto then to Itachi.

"Hunter-nins." Itachi said without hesitation.

"Wha! But that's over kill!" Naruto shouted in surprise. Sakura shot him a glare. Naruto began to calm down, but his eyes were still darting to the open shoji screen. The two knew that this house was probably one of the safest places to be in, but they still couldn't help feeling nervous.

"Seriously Itachi-nii-san, we might be good, but not that good for them to send Hunter-nins after us. And why Hunter-nins? They're job is to track and kill missing nins, not other village's ninjas." Sakura spoke uncertainly. Her gaze never leaving Itachi's onyx eyes. She was never able to read emotions well, but Itachi was impossible. He was a master of hiding his feelings. Even though it was still unspoken, she and Naruto knew full well that there was still something more to this then what he said.

"I can't tell you anymore. But watch each other. And no matter what don't go near Nakano Shrine's Main Temple." Itachi's tone made it clear that it was the end of this conversation. Naruto and Sakura both shifted uneasily under his steely gaze. Both were still nervous, but they'll do what Itachi commanded. Even without him saying it, they would always watch each other's backs.

"When are you leaving?" Sakura asked, trying to clear the uneasiness from the room.

"Tomorrow."

"Then want to train with us?" Sakura asked, already knowing the answer. From all the years of knowing Itachi he had only trained with them three times, and those were dire situations that called for it. And even then he would show them basics, never anything advanced.

"No, I need to prepare for the mission." Itachi stated, finally breaking eye contact with both of them.

"Is that it?" Naruto asked, he finally stopped glancing at the open screen.

"Unn," Itachi stood up. "Do your best at the exams, Sasuke would be there."

"It's been a while since I last saw him, how's he doing?" Sakura asked politely.

"Well." Itachi said walking through the door leading the living room.

Sakura and Naruto followed. They continued till they were in the kitchen. All three took their seats.

"Konnichwa Uchiha-san." The soon to be genins chorused.

"Hai, hai, konnichiwa Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun." She greeted. "Are you two going to train today?" She asked smiling and turning back to her cooking.

"I guess not today. Why are you cooking now? There's still," Sakura turned to look at the clock on the other wall. "About three hours before dinner."

"I know, I'm making a mochi." –a small red bean paste filled bun- She said turning from her work and smiling at the guests. She began to work again. "Did Itachi tell you he'll be moving out?"

"Ehhh?" Naruto cried surprised. "You never told us!" He shouted pointing an accusing finger at the Sharigan user. Itachi on the other hand didn't respond at all.

"Are you still going to live in the compound?" Sakura asked, moving so she could see Itachi. She sat next to Naruto and Itachi sat on the other side of Naruto.

"Yes." Itachi replied curtly.

"You have to invite us when you move!" Naruto said loudly. Sakura grabbed his shirt and pulled him down.

"When?" Sakura asked looking between Itachi and his mother.

"After his mission." She replied. Itachi didn't say anything "Oh, I forgot to ask if you two wanted anything to drink." She turned her full attention to the two.

"Tea!" Naruto said in his usual happiness. "You're tea is the best!"

Uchiha-san giggled and began to prepare some tea for her guests. "Are you two going to stay?" She asked opening a cabinet and taking out a package of dried tea leaves.

"I am!" Naruto said, his arm shooting up, like a student trying to answer a teacher's question.

"Ahhh, sorry. I have to go home…" Sakura drifted. It was always awkward for her to mention her family or house. Even though she didn't tell anyone, besides Itachi and Naruto, everyone else who knew her automatically registers that she doesn't have a good house life. But they don't press her for any more information.

Sakura's gaze fell, and a small sad smile graced her lips. She really couldn't tell anyone either. It wasn't horrible, like her mother is abusive. But it wasn't so good as a lot of other people's. Comparing herself to a lot of shinobis in the village she's happy that she even has a blood relative to even call family. But truthfully she didn't really have a home.

Something broke her out of her thoughts. Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly in a comforting manner. Sakura looked up at him as he smiled at her. Not the usual grin that occupied his face, but a slightly painful smile. In his silent way he was sharing her pain. They knew each other for a long time and Naruto always understood, though he never had parents. But from that day he knew that friends could sometimes fill in that empty space where your parents should be.

"Eh," Uchiha-san stopped before pouring the hot water.

"Something wrong?" Naruto questioned. He withdrew him hand and turned his attention to her.

She didn't immediately reply. "Sakura-chan," she began. Sakura blinked at being addressed in that tone. "For the Genin exams, don't you need a family name and for the registration too…"

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. She turned her gaze to the table, trying to sort out her frenzied thoughts.

"I… I don't know." Sakura finally responded. She looked to Itachi. He was looking at her too.

Uchiha-san's eyes softened. She turned around and poured the water into the cups. "You can use our name." she said softly.

"Eh? No, no, I can't It wouldn't feel right," Sakura said waving her hands in dismissal. "Thank you, but I can't."

Uchiha-san still didn't turn around. "I understand."

"Sakura-chan, you can use mine!" Naruto suggested after a moment of silence.

Sakura cocked an eyebrow. "Idiot." She said hitting him upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Naruto shouted indignantly.

"Think about it, if I use Uzumaki they'll think I'm you're sister or something." Sakura scolded. "Any ideas Itachi-nii-san?" she asked looking over Naruto.

"Senpuu." –Whirlwind- Itachi said his face still calm. "It compliments well with Uzumaki." –Whirlpool-

Sakura and Naruto grinned. "Yea I'll use that. But I think I'll ask Haruno-san, if I can use our name first." Sakura said her voice dropping.

"Here," Uchiha-san said handing the three cups of green tea. Itachi sipped it glancing at the clock. Naruto and Sakura began a conversation with Itachi and Uchiha-san commenting here and there.

It was finally late afternoon an hour before sunset, Sakura stood up and bowed to Uchiha-san. "Thank you for the tea." She spoke in respect. And she began to make her way to the front door.

"Sakura-chan wait!" Uchiha-san said stopping her. "Here, just a snack." She said handing the pink haired girl a bento.

"Thank you for the food." Sakura said bowing again.

"Do you want someone to walk you home? I'm sure Naruto-kun and Itachi would be happy to." She suggested while Sakura put on her sandals.

"No thanks I can't by myself." The girl said smiling, but a voice in the back of her mind said not to. 'But it won't be right to tell Uchiha-san it. Don't wanna get others involved.' She thought closing the door behind her. 'There's still enough light and people. If I take the busiest streets then I'm fine.' Sakura began to walk.

The Uchiha compound was still buys and some of the police force was still present. Sakura relaxed a bit, knowing if anything happened there were some capable ninjas to help.

'First thing's first,' Sakura thought looking at her surroundings. She began to sense the chakras around the area. One thing she picked up through missions was to always scan the area for chakra signatures and to identify if they were hostile or not. The process was simple enough and ninjas usually learned it after becoming Chuunins, when the tasks actually called for it. Once during an A ranked mission a jounin commented that Sakura had a knack for scanning. Naruto and Sakura were only allowed to take part in A ranked missions if Itachi was present and agreed that they could handle it, the total A ranked missions so far was four. She was and is still proud that she was some what praised by a high ranked ninja.

Sakura scanned the area thoroughly making sure to pay extra attention to the ninjas. When she was finished she was already at the gate. She didn't hurry in case it might seem suspicious to the enemy and she didn't want to give away of her knowing that she knew about them. After passing through the gate she scanned the area again and continued doing so every five minutes. It was shinobi rule number 31, never let your guard down even when you're in safe territory.

Finally Sakura rreached her house, she unlocked the door, stepped inside, closed the door, and took off her sandals. She knew that Haruno-san wouldn't be back till about an hour later with her guests. Till then Sakura needed to clean the kitchen, prepare snacks, and dust the living room. The living room was practically spotless only the table holding picure frames of all types and sizes, needed dusting. Sakura knew after her mother and guests arrived she had to stay in her room, not going out for any reason. Thankfully she had prepared someth8ing to eat, even if it was small.

She began cleaning the kitchen, it was simple enough scrub the counters, wash the dishes, and dust the corners. After cleaning she began to make snacks, she had already prepared a crème cake and bought some cookies. She arranged it on a tray and brought it to the living room. She set it on the coffee table and went to get the dusting cloth.

She took a dirty blue cotton cloth out of a bucket in the small storage room they used as a utility closet. She closed the door and walked back to the table. She took the picture frames off the table and onto the floor. She wiped the table, then began to wipe the frames. She replaced them inexactly the same positions as before knowing Haruno-san would get angry if they were misplaced.

Her eyes lingered on one particular picture. It was a picture of her former family. Her father with crimson hair stood next to her mother and arm around her and his daughter. Sakura in the picture was three years old with just as red hair as her father and green eyes like her mother. Sakura's face fell, a deep frown embedded itself on her face and she felt her heart twinge.

"Sakura," a sharp voice woke her up from her reverie. "Hurry up, they'll be here in a minute." Her mother said from the doorway. Sakura didn't look from the picture, the light reflected off the glass and showed a reflection of Haruno-san. "And dye your hair, its getting redder." She snapped as Sakura got up.

"Yes Haruno-san." She said softly not making eye contact ass he passed. She made her way up to her room silently, dropping off the dusting cloth in the utility room, and picking up her dinner from the kitchen.

Sakura closed the door behind her as she entered her room. It was neat and clean, but right now Sakura wanted to destroy it. Maybe it was some impulse of a neglected child, but she couldn't stand looking at the room. She hadn't turned on the lights while entering, preferring the remaining lights fill the room. She made her way to her balcony, opening the glass doors and stepping out to the twilight. The sun was setting and the sky was filled with other colors beside the usual blue. One thing Konoha was proud of was the sunset and sunrises. They say that you can't find any other place that has as great sunsets or sunrises, than Konoha. Sakura sat down on the floor, in the corner of the wall and the dusty red of the railing. She set her dinner down next to her, consisting of the bento Uchiha-san gave her, and a package of onigiri –rice balls-.

Sakura sat there enjoying the weather and the view, thinking back to her early childhood when everything was supposed to be what it was.

"Otou-san, if you were here would things be different? I know you you're watching over me, but why doesn't Okaa-san deny my existence? I really liked your hair, and I wish I can dye mine's back to it, but Okaa-san doesn't want me too. Heh, you always did say that I'll look like a real sakura, if I dye my hair pink. That's why I changed it to this color. But I really like red. Naruto is a great friend, so is Itachi. They take care of me, since no one else would. But I take care of them too. They're my true family. I wish you could meet them, but I'm sure you would've heard of the Uchiha prodigy. And Naruto, the kyuubi vessel. I know, we're not supposed to know and it was an accident of how we found out. But Naruto is really strong with or without Kyuubi. You should see the things he did. Though we aren't that strong, we're still training, but we're pretty good. When we're on missions with other shinobi, they say we have amazing teamwork, and our abilities compliment well with each other. I can't remember a time, it wasn't like that. Sometimes I think Naruto's way stronger than me, but when I tell him that, he always say he'll never be able to do any of those things without me there. But I doubt it. Naruto still wants to be Hokage, and I'll work my hardest to help him become it. And he says he'll do the same for me. But I'm not sure what I want to be. All I know is that I want to help other shinobi, that's all. Oh! And we're going to be official shinobi in three days! Though it'll only be genin, it's a start. Well anyways, I'm sure you have other things to do Otou-san, I'll talk to you later"

The wind blew all the while when Sakura was talking. And she knew her father had heard every word. She usually talk to her father like this. When her mother doesn't want to see her and she's in her room. She'll go to the balcony, sit in the same corner at twilight and begin to talk. Her father used to say, "When your lonely and I'm not here, talk to the wind at sunset. The wind will carry on your message to me." He would then pick up Sakura and set her on his lap, and they'll watch the sunset together. They would usually do this, just the two of them whenever he wasn't on a mission.

Sakura's lip quivered and a tear escaped her eyes. She hugged her knees and buried her head in them. She didn't cry however, she knew that crying would never resolve anything. Besides she didn't want to wind to give her tears to her father.

End of Ch: 2

Well this took me the entire week to write. I hope you enjoyed it. And please review!


	3. How Everything Was

Disclaimer: Yup, I don't own Naruto. Isn't that shocking?

Last Chapter: Besides she didn't want to wind to give her tears to her father.

Ch 3: How everything was

Sakura grew quiet. The wind died down. Sighing she began to eat her dinner. She nibbled on a bit of the onigiri and continued to watch the sunset. A few hours after the sunsets Naruto would show up. It was what Naruto did. He had some sort of sixth sense when Sakura sits alone talking to her dad, and he would show up at exactly two hours and two minutes afterwards. Sakura took a deep breath before opening the bento.

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was the usual things that Uchiha-san packed for her on these types of occasions, sticky rice with sesame seeds and few vegetables along with some eggs and meat. Sakura smiled a bit when she saw that the sesame seeds were in a shape of a sakura blossom. She knew it was Uchiha-san's hobby to make different shapes on the rice. Sometimes when she was feeling creative and had the time she would color the rice into shapes of animals. Once she even made a naruto flake shape on her rice with pink coloring. Naruto laughed when he saw it and asked if Uchiha-san could make a ramen bowl design on his rice next time. Funny thing, she did and for Sakura she made the noodles. She said they go hand in hand. "A ramen bowel without the ramen is pointless to have." She said when the duo opened the bento together. They laughed really hard at that.

She began to eat. After a few bites Sakura reached out to grab something to drink. She smiled a bit and knocked herself on the head lightly for forgetting to bring something to drink with her. So she entered her room and grabbed the can of unopened juice can that was on her desk. She was going to drink it that morning while going to the park, but forgot it since she was in a rush. Thankfully for her, she had something to go along with her dinner.

She went back to her dinner, taking a big bite out of the onigiri. Some rice came loose and fell on the floor.

"Just my luck," Sakura sighed in exasperation. She took a napkin to pick up the mess, when she saw the pickled plum was lying among the rice. Sakura smiled to herself as she cleaned it up.

_Sakura was seven. Her hair was longer than when she met Naruto. Their friendship was enviable. For the past year they've done some wild things, mostly of which consisted with pranks. Surprisingly Sakura sometimes was the one coming up with the ideas. Both she and Naruto made it their goal to prank as many people as they can and not get caught for it. Even if they did, they would always come up with clever ways to escape their predicaments._

_At that day, both had begun devising a plan to trick their teacher. It was simple, something a bit different from the others. They only came up with the outline of the plan though. First they had to sneak in when no one else was there, than go to their teacher's desk and rig up lecture podium, chalkboard, and the platform on which the podium stood on. What the prank was a secret, even to them. Which meant they hadn't made their objectives clear yet._

_Both were finished with classes and were heading to a secret base they found. During the year, they made it a point to find hidden areas all around the town, incase they needed a quick place to hide when they got caught. And they even managed to find a few in the academy itself! And there was one hiding place in the academy were they used the most. It was accessible even during the dead of night as well as the day. The teachers so far haven't found it, not have a clue it was there. They weren't quite sure who built it and why, because it was clear that someone did build it on purpose._

_Right after they were dismissed both disappeared among the throng of students leaving. After a point they slipped away. The only entrance to their base was a hidden door in one of the storage rooms. The storage room was always locked, and rarely used._

_In the course of one year they had picked up impressive burglary skills, and one of them was lock picking. Though they would never break into someone's home and rob him or her blind. But these skills usually helped them with their pranks. So they picked the lock, slip inside, lock the door again, and went to the furthest corner that had brooms and a few boxes covering it. The storage room had a window leading to it. It wasn't guarded at night nor had a good lock, so they leave it unlocked._

_The door to their base was well camouflaged, and had only one little notch that can open the door. The notch was right in the corner. Sakura acted as the look out, making sure there was no one near the window and making sure the storage room door was locked. While Naruto slipped his index finger into he notch and pushed. The panel slid open like a shouji screen would. Naruto ducked as he walked through the opening and moved his hand along the right side until he found the light switch. He flipped the switch, illuminating the flight of stairs leading to their base._

_"C'mon!" Naruto said to Sakura s he ran the flight. Sakura glanced at the window one last time and entered. She turned around and slid it shut. And she ran up to Naruto._

_They decided that they'd eat the rest of their lunches while finishing up their plan. The room was filled like a child's play room, which it practically was. The room had extra desks and chairs. Even one podium. For days Naruto and Sakura dedicated their extra time to find things to decorate their base. They found old sheets that were still clean, given to them by an old woman that was moving out of Naruto's apartment building. They also had a chest filled with rusted tools and weapons, and an old bookcase that was originally there._

_Combined they couldn't afford anything maybe a few snacks, but that was it. And they bought just that! With all their money combined they bought as much onigiri as they cold and a few drinks. They sat down on the rug and laid out their food._

_"Itadakimasu!" the two shouted and dug into their delicious lunch. In between bites they began to discuss their plan. They took turns voicing out ridiculous ideas for the prank making both of them laugh._

_Finally they were on their last onigiri. The two glared at each other daring the other to make their move. A moment ticked by slowly as beads of sweat began to form. And then the two with all their speed tried to snatch the last of their meal. Both grabbed it at the same time but refused to let the other take the prize. So they did the only thing seven year olds did they pulled. The rice ball tore in half, but since it was rice some of the rice would fall to the ground and it did with the pickled plum._

_"Awwww!" Both shouted as they saw the mess. They glared at each other again and pointing an accusing finger at the other. "It's your fault!" They shouted in unison. And they began to glare at each other again, sparks flying from their heated gaze. "Hmph!" and they turned the opposite direction and ate their halves of the former rice ball._

Sakura shook her head out of the memory. They still go to the base when they want to escape from whatever that was bugging them. It was their secret place and not even Itachi-nii-san knew about it or so she thought.

She began to eat again, more slowly than usual. She spent most of them time thinking what had happened in the six years she and Naruto met. They still played pranks on the villagers that would probably never change. And they were still the best of friends. And there was Itachi.

"Konbanwa, Sakura-chan!" –Good Evening- Naruto shouted jumping up to her balcony. It was Naruto's typical greeting. He took a seat in front of her cross-legged and grinning. "Eh? Daijoubu ka?" he asked after Sakura made no indication that she knew he was there. Sakura sighed and nodded. Naruto's grin faltered.

"We were seven when we first met Itachi-nii-san, right?" Sakura asked in a whisper. She briefly turned her gaze to Naruto and then to the Uchiha compound.

"Eh? Yea," Naruto responded, his grin back in place.

"Do you remember?" Sakura looked at her dinner. She only had a bit of the egg left and two more onigiri. She offered one to Naruto. He took it hesitantly though, not knowing if she was still hungry and needed the nutrition, or she's full enough to offer her meal.

"Yea, don't you?" He asked eating the rice ball in one swallow. Sakura giggled as Naruto began to choke on the rice. She patted him on the back, till he stopped.

"Yup, and I still don't know the answer. Do you?"

"Ano…" Naruto drifted off, his face scrunching up in concentration. "Hehehe," he laughed nervously. "I forgot the question…"

A vain popped on Sakura's head. She glared at Naruto, who began to sweat. "Then what's the big idea of saying you remembered?" She shouted, grabbing the poor blonde by his jacket and shaking him violently. She let him go after she was sure he was dizzy. It took the boy a few moments to compose himself.

_The two seven years olds sat on the bench right outside of the Police Headquarters. They were on a pranking streak. Which meant they pulled off several major pranks within the span of one week._

_The first was at the local playground. They had smeared honey on the monkey bars, swing seats, jungle gym, basically anything and everything. And it just so happened that there were a few hives of bees near by. The second was at the hot springs. The water was usually a healthy green, meaning herbs were added. But the two added green dye instead. So the results were green people coming out of the water. And it goes on from there._

_Truthfully they had planned a prank a day for a week. But today right in the middle of setting up their preparations, the police showed up. They busted the two children before they could finish their finale._

_"This suck!" Naruto muttered as he crossed his arms behind his head. Sakura was frowning too while she swung her legs. They were still too short for their legs to touch the ground when they sat._

_Sakura was nervous. Her mother had become increasingly irritated at her each and every day. And even more so when she receives news that her daughter was in trouble. Sakura knew she was in a lot of trouble, but she knew the fun she had with her best friend was worth it._

_Whenever her mother needed to pick her up for bad behavior, she would send a friend. It was rarely that she came herself. And when she showed up, it wasn't an easy day._

_It was late afternoon now. A lot of the police force was off work right about now. As time passed, the number of people filing out of the building increased._

_"It's almost time," Naruto whispered to Sakura. The little girl nodded. They would sneak off when a large group exists. The officer that brought them there was calling Sakura's parents and informing the Hokage. The second officer told them to stay there while he gets something to eat, when the two complained that they were hungry and didn't eat lunch._

_"Now," Sakura said jumping off the bench with Naruto. They quickly raced to the group and pretended, that they were with their parents. The group didn't seem to notice as they continued to chat._

_They were only a few feet from the gate. Both were chanting in their minds to not get caught. They came closer and closer till…they were out! But as they prepare to make a break for it, someone pulled the two by their collars._

_The duo yelled as they were being yanked. Quickly the turned around to see who had caught them, hoping against hope that it wasn't an officer. It turned out to be a stranger._

_The stranger was two times taller than them, had black hair and eyes. And two scars running along his cheeks._

_"We were just going home." Sakura piped up, slightly blushing. Even though she didn't know the stranger, he was still cute._

_He bent down till he was eye leveled with the children. He glanced from one to the other slightly smiling. It seemed like he knew what kind of trouble they were in._

_"C'mon, you two need to wait for the officers." His voice was deep and gentle. He held both their hand and led them back to the bench._

_"Hey who are you?" Naruto shouted rudely. Sakura elbowed him. Naruto glared at his companion._

_The young man smiled down at them. "Uchiha, Itachi." He said after a moment._

_"Aaaaa! Itachi-kun why were you here." The officer that went to get something to eat asked. In his arms he had a few snacks and drinks. He gave them to the children and turned his attention back to Itachi._

_Naruto scowled at the two older people. But immediately grabbed the snacks and began to eat. After a moment Sakura joined him._

_"Shoot, that guy caught us!" Naruto whispered to Sakura as he finished swallowing._

_"Now I have to wait for Haruno-san…" Sakura's voiced dripped with dread. She had a hard time swallowing. She knew that she would be scolded again, but this time was different. Sure they have been busted a few times, but never by the police. The pink haired girl didn't know what to expect. She was scared._

_"Daijoubu ka?" Itachi asked, taking a seat next to Sakura. The officer had to leave and check out what was taking his partner so long. He asked Itachi to look after them till he came back._

_Sakura took deep, slow breaths to try and calm herself. But it was making it worse. With each breath she felt warm tears gathering in her eyes. Finally she began to sob, the tears began to shed. Something soft touched her face. She looked up and saw the stranger wiping her tears away with a napkin. He offered it to her. Trembling she took the napkin, not thanking him for it._

_Naruto sat there uncomfortable. He didn't know what to do. Every time they got caught, Sakura never cried. This was her first time crying because she got caught. Usually she would be smiling and saying "Well we messed up!" And from his experience with Sakura crying, him trying to console her just made it worse._

_"You ok?" Naruto asked, when it seemed she had calmed down. Sakura said nothing and looked down. "Something wrong?" he tilted his head slightly, trying to look at her face._

_"Haruno-san…" Sakura whispered. Tears began to flow again. She dabbed her eyes._

_Naruto saw Itachi look towards him hinting in a questioning manner. Naruto quickly avoided eye contact. He didn't like the stranger already. Trying to act all nice, but he knew he was just like all the others. Everyone in the village except for the Hokage, and Sakura, hated him. For what, he couldn't say. But Sakura-chan was always there, so he didn't mind the cold stares as much as before._

_He looked at Sakura, silently asking her if he should answer. Sakura was sworn by her mother, to never tell others, but she did. When she first told Naruto her little secret, she was severally punished, no money for a month, grounded to her room only, just enough food to survive on, and all her books, even her school books were taken away. So she failed major tests and was bored to death for a month. Worse of all she wasn't allowed to be with Naruto. Sakura didn't dear go against her mother's word. She had ways of knowing if she talked to Naruto. But now since another soul knew her little secret, they can speak for her._

_Sakura glanced up at Naruto for a second and looked down again. Inside she was battling her conscious. Half of her wanted to tell another of her misery and maybe gain enough sympathy to get out of punishment. The other half was arguing that if Haruno-san found out that another person knows and an Uchiha at that, and then her last punishment for the same crime would be child's play._

_But Sakura knew something was different with this person. He didn't pretend to care for people he didn't know. When he asked her if she was all right, he was just curious, but he only wanted to know the reason, not try to help her. There was an honest truth about him, which the little pink haired girl could sense. Or maybe it was the developing crush, either way she wanted to trust him._

_For a seven year old she was smart. After a few years becoming the maid to her mother, she knew how to weight consequences. What to do and how to do it. She developed her knowledge and wits. That in turn developed her judgment on people. She had pretty good analysis for people. She could tell right away what general thing they're thinking at the moment and their over all personality by observing them. One of the things she does everyday and takes notes on is her time people watching. She paid extra attention to ninjas though. She found their personality fascinating._

_From her analysis of Itachi, she could immediately tell he was an observer just like her. That means he already knows her evaluation of him. And if she knew observer types, even if she told him her secret, he wouldn't act on the knowledge. So much for getting out of trouble._

_She slightly nodded._

_Naruto frowned. His eyes squinted as he did his own evaluation on the stranger. He still didn't trust him. But if Sakura wants to tell someone else, she can. But inside him something squirmed. It made him feel uneasy, as he looked Itachi over. Sakura wanted to tell him, but he's her best friend. Naruto wasn't really used to sharing. One, because he had nothing and no one to share with and two, when he finally gets something he tries his best to keep it. The squirming increased. He wanted to be the only other person knowing Sakura's secret, but he had to be a good friend and do as she asked or risk having her get mad at him. Naruto didn't want to get his best friend mad; she was his only friend after all._

_"Haruno-san is Sakura-chan's kaa-san." –mom- Naruto said looking away again. He continued softly so that the stranger and Sakura were the only ones to here. "After Sakura-chan's tou-san –dad- died, Haruno-san started to act weird. She forgot Sakura was there. And she made everyone think that Sakura-chan, died with her father. So no one knows Sakura-chan is Sakura-chan. Just a girl who lives with Haruno-san as a maid." Naruto finished his explanation. The squirming feeling grew worse with each sentence and now he was having a stomach ache. The little boy wrapped his arms around his stomach trying to subside the pain._

_"Naruto!" Sakura said surprised. She reached out to the boy, touching his shoulder. Her green eyes wide with fear. She looked around for something. Haruno-san told her that a certain drink helped with stomach aches, after she had one that prevented her from any cleaning. Luckily it was there, the officer bought the drink while getting the snacks. "Drink this!" she said hurriedly pushing the can into his hand._

_Naruto's eyes were obvious showing his pain and it took much effort to drink down whatever it was in the can. But he managed. The effects were slow, but it did ease the ache._

_"You ok now?" Sakura asked softly rubbing Naruto's back. It was what her father did when she didn't feel well. And she liked the habit. The blonde nodded. He slowly sat back against the bench._

_"So what's gonna happen now?" Naruto asked no one in particular. He tilted his head up to watch the clouds. Sakura followed his example._

_Right at that moment, both the officers came out. They looked harassed._

_"Arigatou Itachi-kun," One of them said bowing his head slightly with a wry smile._

_"But some things came up. You two should be happy, we're gonna give you your punishments tomorrow." The other one said looking over at the two kids. They turned to each other and grinned._

_"But Itachi-kun, if you can, could you take them back home?" The first one asked, scratching the back of his neck. "We don't want them wandering off and finishing up their last prank…"_

_"Ahn," Itachi slightly nodded. He stood up and proceeded to exit. It took a moment for the kids to realize to follow him. They happily jumped down and run towards the exit. But before they turned to walk along side the road, Naruto stuck his tongue out at the officers. And would slap his butt for good measure, but Sakura jerked his arm and dragged him off before he could even gesture it._

_All the while Itachi walked them home, they played. Sakura's house was closer, so she was leading. And while leading they were playing tag, then switching to racing each other. Itachi kept a close eye on them making sure he knew where they were heading. He was going over Naruto's little speech. There were a lot of holes in the story, and he knew that Naruto purposely left them out. But he didn't mind. He continued to watch them play, completely forgetting that he was there._

_He knew right away they weren't geniuses, but he knew the both had potential. He had observed many people and many students everywhere he went. And something in the back of his mind was telling him that they were gifted. Not so gifted to be called geniuses, but higher than average. And subtly the air shifted. No one else noticed it, except for the two. They abruptly stopped playing and stopped. They stood still till Itachi was a yard away and began to walk stiffly. They were muttering to each other in broken sentences. Itachi could clearly hear their words, but they only spoke in five word sentences. From what he could gather it seems like they knew what had caused the shift. And they were arguing on what to do about this latest disturbance._

_Finally they reached Sakura's home._

_"It must be lonely…" Sakura said softly. She looked shyly up at the handsome teen. Itachi's eyes showed hints of amusement, he knew exactly what Sakura was commenting on. "You're alone, because people think that you think you're too good for them. And I know you're a great ninja, because everyone knows about you. I even heard them still talking about you at the academy…" Sakura drifted off again. And Itachi's eyes still didn't change. Naruto just stood there with a dumbfounded expression. "Since my otou-san said, always try to be a friend to those who are lonely, because they need a friend the most… So can me and Naru-kun, be your friend?" Sakura's blush deepened as she asked. She looked down and began to move her right foot, like all shy little girls did when they talk to their crush._

_"Eh!" Naruto shouted, pointing accusingly at Itachi. "I'm not gonna be his friend!" He declared loudly. But Sakura elbowed him, like she always do to stop him from being too rude._

_Itachi chuckled at the two children. He bent down to their eye level. "When you are given power, you are isolated. But do you know what you're asking of me?" He looked Sakura right in the eyes. She blushed so hard it was shades darker than her hair. Naruto was still frowning. Sakura shook her head no. She was an observer, but she had never observed a genius before. This was her first time, even talking to one._

_Itachi smiled at both of them this time and stood up. "We'll see." He said simply and began to walk off._

_"Eh!" Naruto shouted. "Matte!" –Wait- He shouted to Itachi's retreating back and ran after him. He turned his head around to see Sakura still standing there. "Jaa matta ashita!" –See you tomarrow- He called waving too her. He turned back around. "Hey! I said wait!"_

Naruto frowned. He folded his arms and squinted his eyes in concentration like he always does when he's thinking over an important question. "I don't know. But does that matter? We're friends now! We don't need to know anything else." Naruto said logically nodding his head while speaking his discovery.

Sakura said nothing.

The first few years she met her most precious friends, she will always treasure. And Naruto was right. What else does she need to know, besides that they were friends? But deep down inside she still wondered, what did Itachi gave up to be their friend.

Sakura got up and walked to the railing and leaned on the metal. She took in a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the village

Everything back then was fun and new. And she just knew after becoming official ninjas, Naruto and herself had something great awaiting them in their paths.

* * *

End of Ch: 3

Well that was pretty long. It took me a long time to write this! I hope you enjoyed it. If it isn't too much trouble REVIEW! But I'm happy people read this, thanks to the hit counter!


	4. Don't Look Back

Disclaimer: Yup, Don't own Naruto if that wasn't too obvious.

Last Chapter: And she just knew after becoming official ninjas, Naruto and herself had something great awaiting them in their paths.

Ch 4: Don't Look Back

Naruto glanced at Sakura. He didn't understand why she was being so nostalgic. Don't get him wrong, he was like that too from time to time. But he was feeling too happy to get dragged down. Speaking of down, he heard Haruno-san and her friends laugh shrilly.

"They're loud aren't they?" Sakura said off handedly, still leaning on the rusted red railing.

"What did you expect? Old hags are always like that. You remember that banshee that runs the grocery store?" Naruto asked looking at the houses in front of him. Sakura nodded. "Yesterday when I got there she was screeching at the old man. I mean she practically broke every thing made of glass. I could've sworn that those bottles started leaking!" Naruto made exaggerated hand movements to emphasize his point. Sakura giggled. He grinned. He liked making Sakura laugh. He continued, "When she saw me she screeched again and grabbed a broom! I just high tailed it outta there!"

A moment of silence passed, both just enjoying the other's company, grins on their faces. Naruto fished around his kunai pouch for something, it was the gift from Sakura. "Did you open your present yet?" Sakura shook her head. "Whatcha waitin' for?"

Naurto opened his. He sat their blinking a sew moments till he realized what it was. His present was a night cap, the mouth of an animal, maybe a bear, was the rim. There were two small pieces of fabric for the buck teeth, a small cloth ball for the nose and two eyes. His grin brightened, "It's awesome! Arigatou Sakura-chan!" He tried on the cap trying to see how it looked on him. Thankfully Naruto remembered he could use the glass of her door to see his reflection, but he just remembered that when he was trying tot enter, so being who he was, smashed into the glass face first. Sakura quirked an eyebrow and heaved a sign. She opened the glass door and Naruto fell in; she just walked over him.

She picked up the somewhat neatly wrapped gift and carefully removed the paper. It was her turn to just stare and blink. Naruto had given her a necklace. It was on a silver chain, with a small pink sakura flower pendent. She saw it when she was shopping a few days ago and practically fell in love with it. Though some part of her wanted to get it then and shove it away into a small dirty box and bury it. "Arigatou" She whispered before setting it down.

Naruto didn't say anything. He knew she was genuinely thankful, but it somewhat made him feel bad to see her so solemn. He got up and walked behind her. Even though he was slightly shorter, eh took off the nightcap and placed it on her head. "Hey, do you think we should get nii-san this? I think hot pink would be his color!" he said motioning to her vanity mirror.

"Suuuure. You want me to bury this or the pink one with you?" Sakura grinned, while Naruto's smile became lopsided. The carefree moment was short lived however.

"I just don't get it," She flipped her pink hair from her face, her voice sounded too old for her age.

"Don't get what?" The blonde asked totally confused, but his smiled never left his features.

"How you can just smile through everything," the girl said not glancing at her companion. She asked it every so often and Naruto would always answer the same way.

"Nothing to it really. Just don't brood over the past. Stand up straight and just keep going, no matter what comes your way." Naruto proclaimed it proudly, straightening himself to his full height and striking what should've been a proud pose.

"But how can you just keep going, when everything around you is falling?" Her voice sounded faint and weak. Naruto immediately frowned. He never liked Sakura like this. His best friend was loud and somewhat dominating, but never frail.

"You know before I met you, it felt like that. But hey, look at us now! We're doing missions and we didn't have to go to the academy and plus some of the adults don't hate me for carrying Kyuubi!"

Sakura flashed him a small uncertain smile. Inside he flinched. His Sakura was never uncertain about anything.

"Just don't look back. What's done is done, but you can decide on what you're going to do." He said comfortingly, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Sakura only nodded.

He laughed it off, rubbing the back of his neck and turned around facing outside. "I need to get goin, nii-san's letting me look through some of his scrolls tonight. Ja!" He pulled the nightcap off of her head and jumped onto the roof tops back to the Uchiha compound all the while waving good bye.

Sakura breathed a laugh and shook her head. Her head felt numb and her thoughts seemed to silenced with a loud buzz. Not thinking too much of it she flopped down on her bed and slept.

Naruto on the other hand still had the abundant energy he had this mourning. He arrived at Itachi's house in about five minutes of leaving Sakura's. He tried to sneak in, thinking he might even surprise Itachi but it was the other way around. When he reached the Uchiha's garden he opened the door silently, grinning at all the different ways he could surprise him, but the moment he opened his eyes and to step in Itachi was standing right at the other side, a look of slight annoyance gleamed in his eyes.

Naruto gasped and jumped back. His expression turned sour. "That's not funny," was all he muttered as he stomped into the house.

Itachi said nothing but a small smile tugged onhis lips. He followed the blonde back to the kitchen. His mother was still washing the dishes when they arrived.

"How's Sakura-chan?" Uchiha-san asked rinsing the plates.

"She's doing better. Hey she gave me this, whatcha think?" Naruto said modeling his nightcap. She looked over her shoulder and giggled. "I was tellin' Sakura that we should get a pink one for nii-san as a house warming gift." This made the mother laugh. Itachi's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

"Don't," was all the ANBU said taking seat and drinking his tea.

"But nii-san, we need to get you a gift!" Naruto said indignantly sitting roughly down, his arms crossed.

"There's no need to," Uchiha-san replied for her son. She knew Itachi would refuse and she didn't want those two to spend the little money they had for a gift.

"But-"

"No buts." She cut him off, by her tone it was final. Naruto pouted and huffed.

"Hey nii-san what's the genin exams about anyways?"

"Easy," Itachi replied taking another long draft of his tea.

"Can you say more than a word," Naruto shot back annoyed.

"Yes," Itachi poured hot water inot his cup. The soon to be genin's eye twitched. Itachi loved doing this to him. It was one fo the few pleaseres of life athat Naruto knew Itachi enjoyed.

"Fine, can we look at the scrolls now?" The blonde asked with a grin, jumping up. Itachi followed Naruto to his room.

"There," Itachi pointed to ashelf in the corner. He turned to his closet and finished packing.

Naruto scanned throught he scrolls trying to find that jutsu he saw Kyou do on their last mission together. He growled in frustration, running a hand through his messy hair pushing it off his face.

"Still now luck?" Itachi asked off handedly now checking off all that he packed.

"None! I mean all I know is that its lightning element, but that's it! It shouldn't be this hard to find!" The blue eyed boy growled again.

"It could be from a different country, a forbidden justu, or a clan jutsu." Itachi went on satisfied that he had everything he needed. He went to his closet to make sure that his mask and uniform were in order.

"I give up!" Naruto jumped up and threw his arms up. "I need sleep. Night." Naruto jammed on his nightcap and went to the guess room. Itachi just shrugged and got inot bed, he was leaving after breakfast.

The next day was fairly normal. Itachi left after eating his breakfast and mumbling goodbye. His father soon followed, heading towards the police station. All that was left was Sasuke, Naruto, and Uchiha-san.

"So you're going to take the genin exams?" Sasuke asked offhandedly as possible, looking through his books. But Naruto caught the slight sneer in his voice. Their relationship was a funny thing. Sasuke for his own reasons became silent and cold like Itachi. But what was different from him and Itachi was that he was just slightly spiteful. He and Naruto never got along too well. Itachi and their father could see through their polite act infront of the Mrs. But they never commented on it. Uchiha-san was completely oblivious to their rivalry.

"Yea, its gonna be easy with all the experience I have." Naruto subetly gloated. He saw Sasuke's eyes throw him a glare.

"Wouldn't it be great if you were in a team with each other and Sakura?" Uchiha-san said smiling and wiping her hands.

"Yea Okaa-san it'll be great." Sasuke said as geninuenly as possible, though both he and Naruto were shouting "Hell No!" in their minds. He got up and took his books. "See you tonight mom. Later Naruto." Though he mouthed dobe at him before walking to the entrance. Naruto glared and mumbled unintellingetly under his breath.

"What are you doing today?" Uchiha-san asked sitting down at the table and drinking her tea.

"I think me and Sakura are going to a movie or something. She's deciding." Naruto replied glancing at the clock. "Do you need help with anything?" he offered. He did feel a bit guilty for freeloading off the Uchihas. Like usual Uchiha-san refused.

"Now get going. Sakura-chan hates waiting." Uchiha-san shooed him off. Naruto reluctantly complied.

Naruto took his time walking to Sakura's. He was keeping an eye out for Kyou. They still had two days left till the exams. Itachi told them to be watching their backs and not go off traiing,s o they couldn't do that. But a mission was too tempting. He knew Itachi was right and to not go, but the two really needed the cash. He could always ask some chuunin to 'chaporon' them. Or, he finally realized they could finally pull the prank! For the past few months they were doing mission around the Fire Country, right at the time they decided to prank some chuunin that were condescending towards them.

Naruto grinned as he arrived under Sakura's balcony. He climbed up, and looked through the glass. Sakura was still sleeping. His grin instantly turned to a frown. This was a very delicate situation. His only options were either to wake her or leave. I he woke her, she'll be… cranky to say the least. She was never a morning person. It he left, she'll eventually wake up and freak out that she slept pass noon. She didn't like to have her day cut short just cause she overslept. Then she'll blame him for it, leading to some very bad bruises.

Naruto taking a chance poked Sakura on the cheek. She stirred but turned over. He poked again. She lazy slapped his hand away. He gulped and with a very shaky hand poked her on the forehead. She grumbled and mumbled "Five more mintues…"

"But Sakura-chan it's," He decided to play it safe. "It's getting really late."

"So? I need sleep." She mumbled and dug deeper into her covers.

Naruto glanced at the clock on the wall. Should he back away now or should he continue. He decided on the later. "It's 10 o'clock."

He saw a pink eyebrow twitch. He began to sweat. This wasn't good. Sakura pushed off of her bed slowly and turned to look at the blonde. He gulped. She gave him a blank stare. He stared back.

"What?"

"It's ten…"

Her gaze turned into a glare. 'Oh shit' Naruto thought. Without a further exchange of words, the pink haired girl tossed him out of her balcony.

Naruto landed on the pavement face first. 'Owwwwwwwww' He got up and rubbed his face. That was the second time she did it. Luckily the street under the balcony wasn't too busy at the moment and only a few saw. He sighed and waited.

Sakura came out a few mintues later fully dressed and a smile on her face.

"You get a kick out of throwing me out of buildings don't you?" He said in an exasperated tone.

"Only in the mornings!" the girl in question chirped happily. "So how was Sasuke?" she knew about their rivalry too.

"PMSing like usual." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders and began to walk to the center of the village.

"Did Itachi-niisan leave yet?"

"Right after breakfast." Sakura's stomach growled at that moment. "Let's get something to eat. I think we still have those free coupons left." The ramen lover dug through his pockets and held out two perfectly preserved ramen meal tickets. After a few years of going there everyday, the Ichiraku owner decided to give each other them two free ramen tickets for being such loyal guests. They usually brought other ninjas there after missions, and they old man was grateful for it.

"Hi Naruto, Sakura!" Ayame, the ramen girl said happily smiling. She gathered few empty bowls and handed them to her father. "The usual?"

"Yup!" Naruto shouted jumping onto his usual stool. Sakura joined him. A few mintues later their orders arrived.

"Have you heard anything from Kyou-senpai?" Sakura asked slurping her noodles.

Naruto shook his head no while slurping noodles, which caused some misoa soup to land on Sakura. The green eyed girl frowned and stole few pieces of pork from her companions bowl. She ate it before Naruto could steal it back.

"Hey not fair!" Naruto tried to steal some of her's. But Sakura shot him a glare that meant 'Do-it-and-die'. Naruto's hand immediately pulled back as Sakura jabbed her chopsticks aiming for it. "You don't have to be that mean…" He began to sulk. "Another one old man!" The hyper blonde shouted.

"Naruto, Sakura!" A voice shouted behind them. They looked back and saw violet eyes.

"Mornin' Kyou!" Naruto grinned and wave him over. Kyou walked over with a grin on his face. "Got anything for us?"

"Yea, good thing I found you guys now. It's a one day C-class."

"Yatta! What is it?"

"Here," he handed a small packaged that made clinking sounds inside. "You know the rest stop from here to The Hidden Rain?" The two nodded. "This is for the old couple that works there. Give this to them and they'll give you a letter back. Then take the letter to the hospital's front desk. Got it?"

"Awww, that's so easy though."

"Hey, best I can find. Live with it."

"Sure, Kyou. We'll do it after we finish eating though." Sakura said with a doubtful glance towards Naruto knew bowl of ramen.

"Doesn't matter as long as you get it to them by today. I need to go now. Tai and Setsuna are waiting for me at the Police Station." He waved bye to them as he walked off.

Sakura quickly rushed Naruto off after his tenth bowl of ramen.

"Hey you didn't need to punch me!" Naruto shouted indignitly as he was being dragged out of the large wooden gates.

"If I didn't you would've had more ramen!" Sakura shot back with a scowl on her face. Naruto just pouted.

"C'mon it'll be faster if run. That stop is really far away." Sakura let go of Naruto and dashed down the dirt road.

"Hey, no fair!" Naruto shouted running to catch up.

"Not my fault your slow like that!" Sakura teased as she sped up. "Last one to the river has to buy ramen!"

"Not gonna be me!" Naruto focused more chakra to his feet and pushed off with all the strength he could muster. He ran as fast as he could knowing Sakura was right on his tail.

After fifteen minutes of running they were a few yards away from the river. Naruto grinned as he made one final dash towards the finish line. Sakura's lips were pressed into a frown. She knew she wasn't going to win because of the gap between them, but she could still be a sore loser. She dashed after Naruto.

"All right!" Naruto shouted pumping his fists into the air as he skidded to a halt. He didn't know what hit him till he hit the water.

Sakura just grinned as she saw him flailing in the water from confusion. When he skidded to a stop he dashed again and pushed him into the river. Naruto pushed himself out of the river and sat on it's surface with his usual pout.

"C'mon," Sakura said walking onto the river and began to cross. "And don't think about revenge! I have the package and we can't get it wet got it!" She said over her shoulder as Naruto reached out to pull her underwater. This just caused Naruto to frown more.

They reached the rest stop a few hours later than they intended. They got sidetracked few times as they played their usual mission games. When doing low class missions that they knew wouldn't involve fighting, they would usually goof off along the way. They had developed multiple game while walking from races to word games and even RPGs.

And it was RPG that they were playing as they were only a mile away from the stop.

"Then I summon Tsume, the legendary fire wolf! And attack we'll attack with our Blazing Claw jutsu!" Naruto shot back.

"Too bad you're out of chakra from summoning him."

"What, no I'm not!"

"Too bad. The oni knocks you out. Then I'll use my perfume poison to stun him and use my Blue Lightning jutsu to fry it! There I win!"

Naruto just stuck his tongue out. "Blue Lightning, what kinda name is that?"

"Hey!" Sakura shot back defensively. "It's so much better than Blazing Claw!"

"Nuh Uh!" Naruto pouted and stomped his feet.

"Quite acting like a baby. I won." Sakura continued to walk.

"Whatever. Next time I'll win!" The blonde declared.

"Don't shout," the kunoichi commanded. "We're here."

They walked into the wooden house.

"Baa-san, Jii-san, is anyone here!" The blonde called walking between the empty tables.

"Hey, Naruto." The pink haired girl called over from the other side of the room. Naruto just looked over. "Don't you think Kyou-senpai was acting a bit weird?" she asked out of the blue. She just thought of it at that moment though.

The boy in question scrunched his face in concentration. "Nah, couldn't really tell. But I did found it weird that Tai and Setsuna would be at the police station though."

"Huh?"

"Don't you remember today's the Police Force registration."

"Yea, so? They could've had a break and came to find us."

"No that's not it. They have to go unaccompanied."

"Right so? They might've met to wish him good luck."

"But the registration started at dawn and it's in the Uchiha compound."

"So it might've ended early." Sakura tried to reason. But the feeling of dread crept up just like it had yesterday.

"They're not allowed to leave the compound till the testing have begun…" Naruto grew silent. He knew it was fishy but he pushed it off thinking that Sakura put something in his ramen. The two pre-teens stared at each other wide eyed finally understanding the situation.

It was a trap.

"Duck!" Naruto jumped and pulled Sakura safely to the ground as a barrage of kunai and shuriken broke the windows showering them with glass.

The two scrambled to their feet drawing kunais and shifting into defensive positions. But before they could react five blured figures entered from all sides.

Naruto leaned to the side pushing Sakura along with him to avoid the two coming at them. Sakura quickly threw her kunai at another ninja only scratching his arm. But they couldn't react fast enough to the two other ninjas that charged at them send them through the wall.

Sakura skidded across the dirt path while Naruto hit a tree. They stood up shakily preparing themselves for whatever was to come. But the two enemies that had tackled them did it again, flinging the pre-teens away from each other.

Sakura jumped back to her feet to see a shuriken aimed at her, quickly she used kawarmi no jutsu and hid in the trees. Quickly she grabbed a kunai in each hand and jumped down brining the kunai to stab at her enemy. She didn't have enough time to smirk as her knives dug into the flesh before another opponent flung a kunai her way. She pushed off the ground and back flipped a safe distance away. The pink haired girl dug her feet into the ground and parried an attack aimed at her body. Sakura took this time to finally look at their attackers. They wore the Hunter-nin masks of the Hidden Cloud.

"Sakura!" Naruto's voice broke their glaring contest. Her green eyes grew wide as she saw a ninja to the right and left of her preparing to stab her with their kunai. Breaking the stalemate, she jumped back just in time from being skewered. She got an idea.

Silently she switched herself with a bunshin and hid closer to where Naruto was fending off his enemies. She performed the jutsu's handseals flawlessly and muttered, "Earth Swallow no jutsu." She smiled as she saw her jutsu take immediate effect. The ground softened to the point of becoming like quicksand. The enemies didn't have enough time to jump into the shelter of the trees, before they were buried. It took her a week to perfect the technique with a vague tip from Itachi.

"Hey, thanks for the heads up." Naruto said sarcastically from beside her.

"What can I say? They would've been warned too," Sakura reasoned as she scanned the area for foreign chakra signatures. She couldn't detect anything, which meant she bought them a few minutes. Without saying anymore the two bounded as quickly as they could back to the village hoping that they would have enough time to get help. Both knew that they were no match for Hunter-nins and could only hope to buy time.

They saw a break in the trees and knew they were nearing the river. Their hearts lightened considerably at the prospect of finding any of their ninjas joining their way for their mission. With a burst of speed Sakura sped up.

"No!" The blonde shouted frantically trying to grab her to pull her back. But it was too late and he cursed out loud. Sakura was slammed back into him and he caught her and was knocked off balance.

He landed on the forest ground with Sakura in his arms. He set the unconscious girl down and quickly performed a jutsu that had saved him countless times. "Vine spear no jutsu!" He shouted, and immediately thin, sharp vines shot out of the ground in a circle around him impaling all of his surroundings. He heard the gurgled yelps of pain from the Hunter-nins and prided himself of hurting them in some way. He knew none of them would be dead, but injured at the very least, just enough to give them more time. Quickly he threw Sakura over his shoulder and dodged through the vines making their final attempt to reach help.

He neared the river, he could hear the rush of the water. Though it might've been his imagination he thought he heard someone on the other side. With renewed hope and made one final dash towards the person, but the blonde forgot that the person might not have been an ally.

"Please help us," was all the pre-teen said, before the person some how appeared right in his face. It was another Hunter-nin from the Hidden Cloud. "Shit," was all that he could mutter as enemy knocked him out.

End Ch: 4

* * *

There you have it. I know the jutsu names were bad, but I was in a creative slump. And the beginning is really strained, but I just kept writing till I found a way to further the plot. When I get some time I'll try to revise this so it'll run smoother. And if you want the next chapter faster REVIEW! Reviews are great motivations of authors like me! I even took time off from my research paper to finish this! 


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